I saw this earlier today and wondered if Amal or George are involving themselves in any way. Their stance on the refugee crisis has been well publicized and now it sits right on their doorstep - literally. I doubt that they'd invite any of the refugees into their home (seems they have a full house right now anyway) but I wouldn't be surprised if they did inquire of the city if there was something they could do to help.

Or, will they simply tell others what they should be doing... thinking along the lines of GTC rallying for more women/minorities in films etc- but doesn't do a hell of a lot himself as a producer, "power couple" et al.

I would think this is more her bailiwick than his. She is, after all, a human rights lawyer and also has cultural ties to the part of the world many of the refugees are fleeing.

George's commitment has long been to the conflict in South Sudan, which has recently gotten so much worse that the US, for one, is removing all non-essential personnel from the country. I doubt that he's actively involved in the situation, but it must be really disheartening after all the hard work he's put into it.

PigPen wrote:Or, will they simply tell others what they should be doing... thinking along the lines of GTC rallying for more women/minorities in films etc- but doesn't do a hell of a lot himself as a producer, "power couple" et al.

Hi PP...... How do you know that " he doesn't do a hell of a lot himself etc etc"

I think he does quite a lot behind the scenes, going by things that he's said in past interviews. I doubt that even on holiday he's never just lounging around doing nothing.

Obviously we see very little of his life, as we've mentioned before.

I've enjoyed seeing these latest pictures while they're all back in Como.

J- what I 'm talking about is... there are times he talks a good story, ie: telling Hollywood this year's Oscars were too white, yet as a producer, he's not done much to correct the situation. To that regard- lets hope with the situation in Como- that there is less rhetoric about what should be done- and instead, let Hollywood's power couple ( yuk) lead the way by example that others can emulate.

Another article from the DF. Have to say some of the comments from residents are far from empathetic. It's not a good situation. The government is hopefully trying to find a temporary solution. Sounds like there are quite a few migrants/refugees there. The article as usual has inaccuracies ....

Donnamarie, this is a good example of how chaotic the whole situation is.

The Swiss was quite tolerant with small numbers every day but they've now closed their border, which they're entitled to do of course, leaving those who have no direction with nowhere to go.

One example in one article was a young man from Gambia who'd spent several years in one country while they decided on his case and then decided not to give him asylum and sent him home, but he just decided to start again. Goodness where he's got the money from to pay the smugglers all over again.......

Have to say it stuns me to think that very few of these people have been registered at their port of embarkation even now............they are supposed to request asylum at their first port of call.......

... and the countries with external frontiers of the community do have to deal with huge numbers of refugees, mostly Italy and Greece...

Because - if other countries refuse to take them, the refugees have to stay there.

The EU wants to develop similar conditions for all refugees in the whole EU - a good idea in general. The only problem is that the conditions for people in their own countries is so different, that refugees will either live better than peolle i - for example - Bulgaria or live under much poorer conditions than poor people in the richer countries. So - as long as you can't equalize the conditions in all EU countries, you can't equalize the conditions for refugees as well...

Last edited by carolhathaway on Thu Jul 14 2016, 22:34; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Added text)

Donnamarie -The lack of empathy you mentioned may not be the response we wish for, but it is understandable when the waves of refugees keep coming and there are really no facilities for them.

Honestly, we here in the US really can't judge. We have a homeless problem right here that we're not addressing adequately. How many people do you know who have cheerfully invited a homeless person into their home? I'm betting none. Yes, we do have shelters and other social services for them, but many are still on the streets - and most of us, if we're honest, don't like having them around our neighborhoods.

I don't know the answer, either for our friends in Europe or for us, but I don't blame anyone who is unhappy with the situation and wishes it would go away.

Last edited by LizzyNY on Thu Jul 14 2016, 22:54; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : can't spell!)

LizzyNY wrote:Donnamarie -The lack of empathy you mentioned may not be the response we wish for, but it is understandable when the waves of refugees keep coming and there are really no facilities for them.

Honestly, we here in the US really can't judge. We have a homeless problem right here that we're not addressing adequately. How many people do you know who have cheerfully invited a homeless person into their home? I'm betting none. Yes, we do have shelters and other social services for them, but many are still on the streets - and most of us, if we're honest, don't like having them around our neighborhoods.

I don't know the answer, either for our friends in Europe or for us, but I don't blame anyone who is unhappy with the situation and wishes it would go away.

Lizzy I agree. I just read a couple of comments that seemed really harsh. Comments like I don't want any refugees here and I don't like them. There were others who tempered their responses. I can't judge since we just don't have that problem here in the states. PAN called it a chaotic situation. No doubt about it. Hindsight being 20/20 the EU and the UN should have had a coordinated effort to deal with this catastrophe as PAN suggested too.

I would make space for him everywhere except my bathroom. I don't share that -- not nicely, at least. He could have the general-use bathroom. But otherwise, I would welcome him with open arms... and whatevers.